This is one of the best books that I have read: Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda, an account written some 60 years ago. As the name implies, it is an autobiography of Paramahansa Yogananda who brought yoga to the west in the early 1900s.

Some interesting notes:

• Kriya Yoga is the art of yoga that was being taught by Yogananda. An ancient science revived in the 1800s by Yogi Babaji, Yogananda’s mission is to bring it to the west. It is not the usual yoga but one that is tied in with spirituality. Yogananda liken it to a scientific approach to God-realisation. He says that 8.5 hours of the meditation is equivalent to one thousand years of natural evolution, making it the most effective way to overcome karma and achieve enlightenment in today’s world.
• Yogi Babaji is the probably the longest living guru (said to be centuries or even milleniums) and possibly one of the highest evolved. He is said to live in the Himalayas and only witnessed by the closest disciples. He has made a vow to stay in his current body until the last human has ascended.
• Yogananda loved to visit saints and gurus. I felt that the majority of the book is about his encounters with the various saints. The book is filled with such encounters. Saints who never eat… The Tiger Swami who can kill tigers with his bare hands… encounter with Gandhi, yogis who can manifest and demanifest their bodies at will…
• Many gurus are known to have immutable bodies (i.e. bodies do not decay after death). The mortuary noted that Yogananda’s body did not show any sign of breakdown after an astonishing 20 days from death. His body was buried after that.

My description hardly justify the greatness of the book. As I have always said, great stuff always seem to come cheap. I got the almost 600 pages book for just USD7 from Yogananda’s Self Realisation Fellowship. The delivery alone costs me more than the book itself!

Check out the book